The New Zealand sharemarket opened higher this morning as fears about the strength of European banks eased in global stock markets, but was later dragged down by Telcom's losses.At about 11.30am, the benchmark NZX-50 index as down 13.819 points, or 0.437
The New Zealand sharemarket opened higher this morning as fears about the strength of European banks eased in global stock markets, but was later dragged down by Telcom's losses.
At about 11.30am, the benchmark NZX-50 index as down 13.819 points, or 0.437 percent, at 3147.358.
Fletcher Building was up 3c to 819, Steel&Tube was up 3c to 245, and Cavalier was up 5c to 270-- all are expected to provide services in the earthquake-hit Christchurch.
Contact Energy rose 1c to 569, Pike River Coal rose 3c to 245, and New Zealand Refining rose 2c to 322.
Ryman was up 1c to 209, Nuplex was up 2c to 339, Michael Hill was up 1c to 67, SkyCity was up 1c to 288, and Sky TV was up 3c to 288.
Insurance company Tower rose 1c to 187.
In the red, Telecom was down 10c after Crown Fibre Holdings released its shortlist for the Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative. The telco has made the 14-parties list, but wasn't prioritised.
It had put a trading halt prior to the announcement, which was lifted at 10.30am.
Port of Tauranga was down 1c to 685, Air New Zealand was down 1c to 127, and Auckland Airport was down 1c to 127.
Rakon Limited fell 1c to 119, Fisher&Paykel Healthcare fell 2c to 30.
In US, stocks rose on Wednesday as investors latched onto positive news out of Europe. A successful Portuguese debt offering as well as news that nationalised Irish lender Anglo Irish Bank would wind down assets pulled global equity markets higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.32 points, or 0.45 percent, at 10,387.01. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index added 7.03 points, or 0.64 percent, at 1098.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 19.98 points, or 0.90 percent, at 2228.87.
